Justice and Development Party

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is a conservative and formerly Islamist party in Turkey that advocated neo-Ottomanism. The AKP was founded on 14 August 2001 by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and it later moved on from Islamism to social conservatism. A pro-West and pro-United States party, the AKP advocated a liberal market economy and European Union membership, but it abandoned the traditional secularist stance of Turkish parties and instead advocated Turkish nationalism and Islamism. Erdogan supported Azerbaijan against Armenia, and he made several harsh statements about Armenians; Turkey also continued its oppression of the Kurds, supporting the Syrian Opposition against the Islamic State and Kurds (while Turkish officials were known to be in contact with IS). Since 2013, the AKP has been accused of authoritarianism, tightly restricting alcohol consumption, internet use (including social media and Youtube), abortion, and reducing the amount of elected government positions. In 2016, they held 317/550 parliament seats, 18/30 metropolitan municipalities, 800/1,351 district municipalities, and 1,251 provincial council seats, being the largest party in Turkey with 9,399,633 members.